This invention relates to the mounting of tufting machine gauge parts, and more particularly to a mounting block assembly for carrying a plurality of loopers or knives in a tufting machine.
In a tufting machine each reciprocating needle cooperates with a looper which seizes a loop of yarn from the needle and releases the loop to form loop pile fabric or holds the loop until it is cut by a knife acting against the side of the looper to form cut pile fabric. The gauge of the pile fabric produced and of the tufting machine is equal to the spacing between adjacent needles, loopers and knives, i.e. the gauge parts. As the required gauge of the pile fabric becomes finer the spacing between adjacent gauge parts becomes more difficult to attain with the required precision. To overcome this difficulty modular gauge parts units have been proposed in which a plurality of respective looper shanks or knife ends are imbedded in a common body member in side-by-side disposition. Although such a construction substantially eliminates the difficulties of aligning the gauge parts, it has the disadvantage of not having the capability of replacement of loopers or knives should they break. In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,580 there is disclosed a gauge parts mounting block having a plurality of grooved retaining plates positioned between and secured to spaced flanges of a body member to which they are bonded. Each groove receives the mounting portion or shank of a respective looper or knife.